How Tynwald Works

How does the Manx parliament work, where does it sit and what happens during the annual ceremony at St Johns in July each year?

Not only is Tynwald the oldest continuous parliament
in the world, but it is also the only one with three
parts (it is tricameral) - there is the House of Keys, the Legislative
Council, and the two chambers sit together as Tynwald
Court.

Tynwald Court

Tynwald Court normally meets on the third Tuesday of each
month, and consists of the members of the House of Keys and
Legislative Council sitting together. Meetings can last for up
to three days and normally begin at 10.30am.

The main purposes of Tynwald Court are to debate policy issues
(including the Chief Minister's annual Policy Document), to approve
all taxation and government spending, and to deal with secondary
legislation. This refers to rules, orders and
regulations made within the scope of existing law, and it is often
referred to as 'Delegated Legislation'.

The sessions of Tynwald Court are presided over by the President of Tynwald,
who is elected for a five-year term by the Members. The
current President is the Hon Stephen Charles Rodan BSc
(Hons). Prior to the election of Sir Charles Kerruish, in
1990, as the first President of Tynwald, Tynwald was presided over
by the Lieutenant
Governor, who is the Queen's representative in the
Island.

The Midsummer Court (Tynwald Day)

Once a year on July 5th (or the weekday closest to it
if the date falls on a weekend), Tynwald meets in the
open air at St John's.

The sitting is more than a mere ceremony - though there is much
ceremonial celebration - as there has always been a legal
requirement to proclaim legislation to the people on this
occasion.

There is also an ancient right to petition Tynwald with
individual grievances, and each year several such petitions are
made and, if considered justified, investigated by a select
committee of Tynwald.

Order of Proceedings

The day, known as Tynwald Day, begins with the Court assembling for
worship in the Royal Chapel at St John's, after which there is a
procession to Tynwald Hill - one of the ancient sites of open-air
parliamentary meetings.

During the open air sitting the Coroners are sworn in and all Acts
of Tynwald, which have had Royal Assent, are promulgated in both
Manx and English by the two Deemsters (the High Court
judges).

Parliament & Government

One function of any parliament is to scrutinise the work
of Government, and Tynwald is no exception. All three
branches have various devices which can be used to achieve this
goal, some of which apply to all chambers
and others are specific to the individual
branches.

The environment within which this scrutiny operates is very
different from that of many other parliaments in the British Isles
though. This is because unlike the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland, the Isle of Man does not have a party system: there is no
system of Government and Opposition and no whip system.

In many ways, this is very helpful since it means that Members
approach issues on their merit rather than having to follow a
'party line.' It also ensures that the Government does not
have an in-built majority to force its measures through.

Ministers

The nine Ministers that make up the Council of Ministers are bound
by collective responsibility. Departmental Members however, who are
appointed by the Chief Minister from the membership of Tynwald to
assist Ministers, are not. Nor are they junior ministers - their
only authority is that which a particular Minister delegates to
them.
Passage & Scrutiny of a Bill

In the Isle of Man, without a party system, there is real
opportunity for Members of the Keys to scrutinise and amend the
legislative proposals, which are put before it by the
Government.

The first opportunity occurs at the Second Reading stage of a
Bill. At this stage, the Keys discusses the principle that
lies behind the proposal and a vote is taken on whether to
proceed. Given the lack of a built-in government majority,
the approval of the Keys is not always forthcoming. While
many Government Bills do receive a Second Reading, some do
not.

Once a
Bill has passed its Second Reading, Members have a further
opportunity for scrutiny and amendment at the Clauses Stage.
The Clauses Stage provides for in-depth analysis of the proposals
in the Bill. It is usually taken by the whole House but
sometimes, if a Bill is particularly complex, it may be taken by a
committee of the House, which will report back.

At this stage Members frequently propose amendments - either to
make the Bill a more workable piece of legislation, to
extend it beyond that which the Government originally
intended, or to change the original intention behind
it.

Amendments can be the subject of vigorous debate and some of them
succeed while others do not. However the fact that such an
opportunity exists and can succeed provides the Keys with a
valuable means of scrutiny.

Having passed through the Keys, Bills are then considered by the
Legislative Council. Again the Council can and does propose
amendments to legislation, but the Keys have to endorse any
amendment made.

In the event of a disagreement between the two branches, the
Council effectively has delaying powers akin to those of the House
of Lords in the UK.

Committees of the Legislature

Tynwald, like most parliaments, makes use of committees to
undertake scrutiny of government and a number of standing and
select committees exist.

A standing committee lasts for the duration of a parliament,
namely five years, while a select committee is one established to
investigate a specific issue and report on it. In addition,
there are joint committees with Members elected by each branch
separately.

One of the most important committees in this regard is the Standing
Committee on Public Accounts. It has six Members who are elected by
Tynwald Court after each general election, but to ensure its
impartiality no Member of the Council of Ministers is eligible to
serve on it. In addition no Member of the Committee is allowed to
sit on inquiries into a Department in which they serve as a
Departmental Member.

Not only does it consider the accounts of Government to ensure that
monies have been spent in accordance with Tynwald's authorisation,
but it also may consider any papers on public expenditure presented
to Tynwald, and any of the Departmental Estimates it may choose to
look at.

Part of this wider remit gives it the ability to report on whether
policies could be achieved in a more economic manner. To facilitate
its work, the Committee often establishes sub-committees to
undertake particular investigations.

All committees have the authority to summon persons and papers, and
both ministers and civil servants regularly appear before them to
give evidence. The outcome of committee reports may be that
government would adapt its policies in the light of committee
criticism or recommendation.

A final means of scrutiny takes place in the Legislative Council,
which considers summaries of proceedings within the Council of
Ministers (in private session). This too can prove a useful
exercise, since it gives the Members some idea what the Council of
Ministers is considering and how it might go about achieving its
aims.